About the Book
Tensions and passions rise in the city that never sleeps in this propulsive novel in #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan’s Shadow Riders series.
As the head of the New York City Shadow Riders and his branch of the Ferraro family, Geno bears the weight of dual responsibilities on his broad shoulders. There’s nothing more important to Geno than protecting his territory and his famiglia. So when his own parents become the latest victims in a string of vicious murders, Geno is ready to go scorched earth. He thinks he has the assassin in his sights, but he’s unprepared for the firestorm their connection ignites....
Amaranthe Aubert’s lithe dancer’s body conceals a spine of steel. Even held captive and faced with the threat of lethal interrogation, she’s not about to cave under pressure. She had nothing to do with the murders, no matter what the ruthless man in front of her believes. But before Amara knows what’s happening, Geno connects to her in the shadows, stripping her bare of all artifice. Now, she has no way to hide her true reason for being in New York—and nowhere to run from the man who’s very presence steals the very breath from her lungs...
SHADOW DANCE Excerpt
She nodded, never looking away from his dark gaze. She did
love his eyes. “I’m very sure. I’m not going to doubt us again.”
His smile was slow in climbing to his eyes, but when it
reached them, it lit up the deep blue until her stomach began to perform loops
and somersaults.
“You’re lethal to women, Geno.”
“Just to you, I promise.”
He cupped the back of her head gently and bent to brush his
lips across hers, featherlight, before she could protest that she was wearing
lipstick. As kisses went, it was fairly virtuous. It shouldn’t have made her
heart pound like a drum out of control, but it did. He didn’t stop there. He
shifted her, easily bringing her onto his lap, urging her to straddle his
thighs.
Amaranthe knew better, but she couldn’t help herself. He
mesmerized her. Large hands at her waist, he lifted her, and she settled one
knee on either side of his thighs. His lips moved on hers again and again.
Barely there. Whispering. Never hurrying. So light. Coaxing her with tenderness
as if he knew everything she said was bravado. She was still afraid to go into
his world with him.
Geno had kissed her with fire, but not like this. Not with
tenderness. Not so she could taste raw emotion. He was giving her a
gift—showing her how he felt. Her lips trembled beneath his. This was a
terrifying moment even as she reveled in it. His chest was hard as it rose and
fell against the softness of her breasts. His tongue slid along the seam of her
lips, and her heart contracted.
I want you for myself, Danzatrice Ombra.
You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted for me. The only woman I’ve looked at
and known I had to have, or it would be no one. If you turn me down, there will
be no arranged marriage. No children with another rider. You are my partner,
Amaranthe. I feel it with every breath I take. Feel it, too. Want me the way I
want you.
He whispered poetic words like that into her mind, and she
knew she would never be able to resist him. It didn’t matter that he was so far
out of her league, and she had no idea how to be with a man like him, she knew
she couldn’t walk away from him.
She saw his absolute resolve. He meant every word he said.
His life had been dictated to him, his every path, his every breath and step.
He was done with giving every aspect of his life to everyone else. He would
choose his wife. The woman he would marry. If he couldn’t have the woman he
loved, he would choose to be alone. She saw that determination in him. When
Geno made up his mind, he was absolute steel.
I’m so afraid I’ll embarrass you, Geno. I
have no idea what to do or say around these people. I don’t belong with them.
His mouth brushed across her lips again. Gently. Coaxing.
So tender her stomach did a slow somersault and her sex clenched. She held
herself very still, frozen in place, but the need for flight was paramount.
Every inch of the front of her body was pressed tightly against him. His
masculine scent enveloped her so that each time she inhaled, she took him deep
into her lungs.
You don’t need to belong with them, Amara.
You belong with me. I’m the one who needs you, not them. I don’t belong.
Haven’t you noticed? I’m not the same as the rest of them and I make them
uneasy. I’ve never minded, but I don’t want you to feel that way. I don’t want
you uneasy around me.
How could he think that? Did she make him think it was him?
She slid her palms up his chest and linked her fingers behind his neck, her
mouth moving under his in answer.
It isn’t you I’m afraid of, Geno. I love
being with you, and I’m comfortable with you. It’s the others in your world.
His teeth teased at her lower lip, tugging very gently
while his palm curled around the nape of her neck and his thumb swept along her
cheek.
Give yourself to me, la mia danzatrice
ombra. I swear, you’ll always be safe with me. I’ll make you
happy.
There was no resisting him. She didn’t even want to resist
him. He was right.
I want you to know you will always come
first. Always.
Excerpted from Shadow
Dance by Christine Feehan Copyright © 2023 by Christine Feehan.
Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this
excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the
publisher.
About the Author
Christine Feehan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of seven different series including the ongoing Carpathian series, GhostWalker series, Leopard series, Shadow series, Torpedo Ink series, and two stand-alone romantic suspense novels. Learn more online at www.christinefeehan.com.
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